Bali Day Ultimate Earth Hour

If you have not heard of Bali day you have heard of Earth Hour? (Not in holiday Hotels though.) When you are supposed to switch off all electronic devices for 1 hour to support saving the planet? Well… Here in Bali we have it in a larger scale. It’s called Silent Day or in Balinese Nyepi. It is the New Year of the Balinese Saka calendar (in March). It is not like any other new year celebration filled with parties and festivity, here they commemorate it with

Meditation

Self-reflection

Being one with nature

Nobody is allowed to work, travel; even no
kind of entertainment is permitted. And to respect this old tradition, no one
is exempted from it, even non-Hindu residents and tourists. The airport will be
closed for the whole day and no flights are allowed to depart or arrive in
Bali.

It Starts with Monsters

Nyepi itself starts on the New Year day from 06.00 am until 06.00 am on
the second day. The night before which is New Year’s Eve is the day for
teenagers and young people; it’s their celebration. They are in charge of
crafting the most terrifying monsters as big and scary as possible. They are called
Ogoh-Ogoh symbolizing all the bad and
negativity that reside within men and their environment.

The Ogoh-Oghos
are paraded throughout villages by the young folks. The scarier they are the
more successful they will be drawing all negativity and demons out of the houses.
The whole community is involved in the preparation and organization of this
special day. During the procession the younger children carry these huge and
heavy Ogoh-Ogohs while the teenagers
supervise. The parents hovering with water bottles in their hands making sure
their child is alright and hydrated.

It is a mighty spectacle seeing these
monsters float through cities and villages at night. The parade ends at the
crossroads where bad spirits are then let loose by making the monsters dance
and twirl accompanied by the most earsplitting noise possible. The mayhem ends
with the burning of the monsters so that the bad spirits don’t come back.

Bali Day of Silence

On Nyepi the whole island will be quiet.
There will be traditional guards also known as Pecalang securing the streets making sure no one is outside. At
night they will ensure no loud sounds and lights disturb the silence.

Many tourists now do want to experience
this unique Day. Of course everybody is welcome to join in the fun and
pandemonium during the parading of the Ogoh-ogohs.
Come and help expel the demons and bad spirits of Bali; a unique experience.
But then there is the big silence!